'Cats return to Ryan Field Saturday to begin Legends Division play vs. Gophers

General: Closed his illustrious career as the sixth all-time leading rusher in Big Ten history (4,485 yards) ... Ranks in top 30 on NCAA Division I-A career rushing list ... Finishes as NU's all-time leader in rushing, all-purpose yardage (5,261), rushing touchdowns (38) and 200-yard games (4) ... Also holds five major single-season school records: rushing yards (2,063 in 2000), yards per game (171.9 in 2000), all-purpose yards (2,195 in 2000), rushing touchdowns (23 in 2000) and points (138 in 2000) ... Also scored a touchdown in 11 consecutive games, an NU record ... Featured on ESPN's Sports Century 50 and Beyond documentary in November, 2001 ... Career was cut short when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Indiana on Nov. 3, 2001 ... Played in 43 career games with 40 starts.

2001: Nation?s leading returning rusher ? Heisman Trophy and All-America candidate ... Big Ten Preseason Offensive Player of the Year ... Leading returning Heisman vote-getter ? Walter Camp Player of the Year finalist ... Unanimous preseason All-American ... Missed the final three games with a dislocated left shoulder ... Suffered injury in the third quarter at Indiana (Nov. 3) ... Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his performance at Duke ... Ran for a season-high 189 yards and totaled a season-best 250 all-purpose yards at Duke ... Besides playing running back, started returning kickoffs against Minnesota ... At time of injury, ranked in Big Ten?s top 10 in rushing (sixth), all-purpose yardage (third), scoring (8th) and kickoff returns (5th) ... Finished sixth in total offense (4,485) at NU and sixth on Big Ten?s all-time rushing list ... Had 32 straight starts before missing the Iowa game on Nov. 10 ... Totaled 113 rushing yards (99 in second half) at UNLV ... Compiled 188 yards in all-purpose yardage vs. Penn State (87 yards on kickoff returns) ... Averaged 75.8 rushing yards in six Big Ten games.

2000: Finished fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy ? Doak Walker Award finalist ? Football Writers Association All-American ? Walter Camp All-American ? Football News All-American ? CNN/SI All-American ? Sporting News All-American ? Football News Offensive Player of the Year finalist ? Was second in the country in rushing yards, behind TCU?s LaDainian Tomlinson (Tomlinson rushed for only 244 more yards on 76 more carries) ? Third in the nation in yards per attempt at 6.53 yards per carry ? Finished second in the country in scoring, fourth in all-purpose running and 30th in points responsible for ? The only unanimous All-Big Ten first team pick by both the coaches and media ? Broke Michigan State?s Lorenzo White?s Big Ten rushing record for yards in conference games with 1,549 yards ? Also broke White?s yards per game record with a 193.6 average ? Set NU?s single season records for rushing (2,063 yards), yards per game (171.9), points (138) touchdowns (23), all-purpose yards (2,195), yards per carry in a game (8.8 ypc vs. Michigan), and yards per carry in a season (6.6 ypc) ? Has rushed for more than 200 yards in a game four times ? Only back in NU history to rush for 200 yards in back-to-back games, doing it twice ? Owns records for rushing yards in two consecutive (511 vs. Michigan State and Indiana.), three consecutive (685 vs. Wisconsin, Michigan State and Indiana), four consecutive (809 vs. Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois) and five consecutive games (1,064 vs. Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan) ? Scored four touchdowns in a game twice ? vs. Indiana and Illinois ? Owns single-season NU records for most touchdowns in back-to-back games (6), most games scoring a touchdown (11) and games scoring two or more TDs (8) ? Also owns season and career records for consecutive games scoring a touchdown (9) ? Had the third (292 vs. Indiana), fourth (268 vs. Michigan), sixth (230 vs. Minnesota) and ninth (219 vs. Michigan State) best rushing days in NU history ? Named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week twice (10/1, 10/8) ? USAToday.com National Player of the Week after the Wisconsin game ? Team MVP ? Named Offensive Player of the Game twice and Big Playmaker three times.

1999: Second-team All-Big Ten selection by the media, and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the coaches ... Team's leading rusher with 1,128 yards on a Big Ten-leading 306 carries ... Finished fourth in the Big Ten and 25th in the nation in rushing yards (102.5 ypg) ... Fifth in the Big ten, 44th in the nation in all-purpose yards (119.3 ypg) ... Rushed for 100+ yards five times, including a career-high 162 yards against Iowa ... Caught 16 passes for 184 yards ... Ranks seventh on NU's career rushing list with 1,665 yards ... Earned Championship Performance recognition four times, offensive player of the game four times and big playmaker of the game once.

1998: Team's leading rusher with 537 yards on 164 carries and four touchdowns ... Had his best game in his collegiate debut against UNLV rushing for 103 yards on 28 carries and two TDs ... Tied the NU record for most touchdowns in a game by a freshman (2) ... Longest run of the year was a 36-yard TD vs. Duke ... Also scored on a 1-yard run at Iowa ... Caught 10 balls for 79 yards on the year ... Had three catches for 30 yards vs. Illinois.

1997: Did not see any game action ... Named rookie champion after the Duke, Purdue and Illinois games.

High School: USA Today All-American honorable mention ... Football Report All-American ... All-state honoree by the Chicago Sun Times ... Named Midwest Player of the Year by the Champaign Gazette ... SuperPrep Midwest Offensive Player of the Year ... All-conference his junior and senior seasons ... Elected all-area by the Daily Journal and Joliet Herald after his junior and senior seasons ... Rushed for 2,002 yards and 37 touchdowns his senior season ... His 37 TDs moved him into sixth place ahead of Red Grange on state of Illinois' single-season scoring list ... Set team records for most yards in one game (277), yards per carry (8.7) and most touchdowns in a game (five) ... High school coach was Jeff Reents ... Also lettered in wrestling and track ... Honor roll member.